Wednesday, January 4, 2012

How 2 arrows killed 2 dozen lions

How 2 arrows killed 2 dozen lions

When I was in Africa a couple of decades ago, I camped for a stretch in the territory of a lion pride comprising 3 males, 10 females and 22 cubs.

The 3 pride-males, named Agamemnon, Achilles and Hector (AAH), were about 6 years of age and very much in their prime. Their 22 cubs were thriving under their protection - protection against predators,

and the coalition of four 4-year-old prideless bachelors, who had been loitering in the neighborhood.

Due to the superior fighting prowess of AAH, they had been kicking the butts of the Gang of Four (GOF), so far. If the GOF drove out or killed AAH, they would kill all their cubs so that the lionesses would have cubs bearing their genes. AAH would be able to repel GOF for another couple of years, which was a fairly stable scenario in lion terms. What was unforeseen was that a trophy hunter killed Achilles, though Achilles also killed him.

Now with only Agamemnon and Hector holding the fort, they were no match for the GOF. Valiantly, AH tried to defend their offspring, but it was a matter of fighting to the last cub before they both were killed. The 10 lionesses became the spoils of war. And so, a new leonine dynasty was born. But through it all, two dozen lion lives were lost, all due to the arrows (or bullets for that matter) fired by one egomaniacal trophy hunter.

Shame on Safari Club International! And shame on you Mr. President (applicable to all presidents and presidential candidates), for supporting hunting.

5 comments:

Some Beings may rarely think of the consequences of harming or killing just one free Living Being and the chain-reaction it has on so many other lives, perhaps in the end, even their own. This very moving story is a poignant example of just that. Though i am sorry for what happened to these many Lions, i am grateful for Anthony's telling of this true tale, so that others might open their eyes to what it reveals. And i thank him for that. Bless you Anthony. luv, apple ♥ (apple.neilson@facebook.com)

Thank you, Apple and SFA! Sad to say, trophy hunting of the "Big-5" - elephant, lion, rhino, leopard and buffalo - are still legal in 6 African countries, including S. Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. And, hunters still target the big males, regardless of such consequences as depicted here. / SFA, for tons of bumper stickers, check out Cafe Press (cafepress.com). A favorite one of mine is "HUNTING, THE 'SPORT' OF COWARDS".

We do need creative ideas to make hunting undesirable, only way to stop. I have been thinking of in late summer painting deer pink, with unwashable paint, my neighbor likes to hang his kill in his front yard, paint ball driveby, umm, the meat needs to be tainted with something that won't harm the animals, but will the humans that eat it......

About Anthony Marr

Anthony Marr
* has a degree in physics
* is the author of "OMNI-SCIENCE and the Human Destiny" (2003) and "Homo Sapiens SAVE YOUR EARTH" (2008)
* 1995, he cleaned up N. American Chinatowns of endangered species medicines
* 1996, he led "the highest-profile anti-trophy-hunting campaign in Canada" (Globe and Mail).
* 1997-1999, he worked in 3 tiger reserves in India.
* 1999, he founded Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE).
* 2004/2005, he conducted operations in Japan against whaling and dolphin slaughter.
* 2003-2011, completed 7 Compassion for Animals Road Expeditions (CARE tours, each covering 30-45 states over 4-7 months), and spoke at the National AR Conference every year
* 2009, he founded the Global Anti-Hunting Coalition (GAHC)
* 2010, he won the Henry Spira Grassroots Activist Award.
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.facebook.com/AnthonyMarr001
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com
www.AnthonyMarr13.wordpress.com
www.Dying-for Salvation.blogspot.com